Two disasters come to mind immediately (there being many others, though), but the one turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

I moved into a new home, which had a fan oven, with very unfamiliar knobs. To celebrate the new home, I invited the exteeeeeended family of about 18, to enjoy a meal mostly consisting of my huge fool-proof and very popular chicken dish, with its 2-hour cooking time.

Switched on the timer, turned the knobs in what I thought was the correct way, stashed the chicken in the oven (the way I had done it a zillion times before in my previous house) and went to church. Got back home about 20 minutes before everyone arrived, only to find the oven and chicken equally cold. As this was definitely not a dish for micro-waving I had to rush to PnP to get a few of their grilled chickens.

I eventually had to cook the original chicken dish, afterwards stacking the freezer to the brim.

With the same (confusing) oven, I tried a new chocolate cake recipe for my birthday. Baking time was given as 30 minutes, but after about 10 minutes the perfume of baked cake already pervaded the house. With a shock I realised that the oven was on "grill", and quickly took out the cake before it burned to charcoal.

It turned out to be the most succulent toffee-browny sort of dish, which was the hit of the birthday party, and I've since passed on the "grilled chocolate cake" recipe to many friends and family members.

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